Dr Clodagh Harrington

Clodagh Harrington joined DMU in 2006 and is a senior lecturer in American Politics.

She is chair of the (PSA) American Politics Group and is also a member of the Political Studies Association, American Political Science Association and British Association for American Studies.

She is currently working on a book examining the impact of the Trump presidency on Barack Obama's legacy. Clodagh is also involved in a number of collaborative writing projects relating to policy development in the Trump administration. In 2015 she was awarded a place on the DMU Future Research Leaders Programme, which offers institutional support for specific research projects.

She received her MA (1996) and PhD (2006) from London Metropolitan University. Her academic background is in American politics and international relations and this is also her main teaching area.

Clodagh is module leader on a number of undergraduate courses, including Unity and Diversity in Contemporary America and The American Presidency. She is also module leader for a MA International Relations module on US foreign policy. In addition, she is involved in undergraduate and post-graduate dissertation supervision.

Another particular area of research is political scandal. This interest came about in the first instance as a result of the 1990s Clinton/Lewinksy scandal and grew into further research encompassing presidential indiscretion. From this grew a wider interest in the nature of scandal, how it is perceived by elites, and the difficulties involved in legislating ethics. 

Clodagh's most recent publication is ‘Obama’s Washington: Political Leadership in a Partisan Era’ (University of London, 2015) brings together essays from both sides of the Atlantic to dissect policy decisions and challenges facing the current administration.

American Politics Group

Click here to view a full listing of Clodagh Harrington's publications and outputs.

‘Truth and the Republican Party: the Rhetorical Clout of Condoleezza Rice’ in Republican Orators from Eisenhower to Trump, Palgrave Macmillan, (2017)

The US School Lunch Revolution in Ashbee & Dumbrell (eds), 'The Obama Administration and the Politics of Change,' Palgrave Macmillan, 2016

Obama’s Washington: Political Leadership in a Partisan Era, Clodagh Harrington (ed) ISA, University of London (2015)

The Tea Party Movement, in Dumbrell, J (ed), Issues in American Politics (pub date 2013)

The Role of the Special Prosecutor, in Watergate Remembered: The Legacy for American Politics, (2012)

The Ethical Record of the Bush Presidency, in Morgan and Davies (eds), The Right Man? (2010)

US domestic policy

US presidency 

American Presidency, American Government and Politics, American Foreign Policy

PhD London Metropolitan University (2006)

MA London Metropolitan University (1996)

BA (Hons) Modern History with Applied Psychology

POPP3046 The American Presidency

POPP3000 Dissertations – various US related topics

POPP2005 Unity and Diversity in Contemporary America

Chair - American Politics Group (2015 - )

Political Studies Association (2012)

American Politics Group (2002)

American Political Science Association (2006)

British Association of American Studies (2006)

Licence obtained, certifying institute, not commercially sensitive information 

Current research project is on rollback of Obama legacy by the Trump administration (for 2019 publication)   

Congress to Campus – 08.11.17 – De Montfort University

American Politics Group 2015 annual colloquium – 10.11.17 - British Library, London

American Politics Group annual conference 04-06.01.18 - University of Oxford

Rolling Back the Years with President Trump (Clinton Institute, UCD, 2017)

100 Days of Donald Trump: Policy Pushback and Consequences (Reading 2017)

The Politics of Food Policy: Battling for the Public Good (PSA 2017)

Steeling the Magnolia: Truth and the Republican Party, (APG 2017)

Rice, Rhetoric and the Republican Party (Republican Orators Conference, University of Liverpool, 2016)

European Association of American Studies conference, 'Healthy Hunger-free Kids,' University of Constanta, Romania, 2016

American Politics Group conference, January 2016, 'The US School Lunch Revolution'

British Association of American Studiesconference – April 2014. ‘Sense and Sustainability: The Politics of Food in C21 America’.

Political Studies Association conference – April 2014 ‘SNAP: The Sound of the US Food Chain Breaking’.  

‘Truth and the Republican Party: the Rhetorical Clout of Condoleezza Rice’ in Republican Orators from Eisenhower to Trump, Palgrave Macmillan, (2017) 

e.g  ‘Outputs’ produced since January 2008 not yet included in DORA

External examiner Northampton University (BA Politics) 2013 -

I am happy to offer PhD supervisions in a range of areas relating to American politics, including:

The modern American presidency, Presidential scandal, aspects of American foreign policy, American political parties, aspects of American social policy

Successful application for Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, conference grant  made in September 2012. Funding covered State of the Union (US Politics) conference in May 2013 and costs of resulting publication in 2014.  

DMU Early Career Research Fellowship awarded 2013

Member of Digital Democracy Project chaired by Rt Hon John Bercow MP (2013 - )

Aurora Foundation Women in Leadership training completed 2014